"I want collective awards more than anything," Bruno Fernandes said this week. He's just been named Premier League Player of the Season, and he's already telling you it's not enough.
That tension — individual brilliance, collective underachievement — is exactly what defines Fernandes's time at Old Trafford so far. He equalled the Premier League record for most assists in a single season, claimed the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year, and is the frontrunner for the PFA award too. Manchester United finished third. Vidić's United, the last Red Devil to win this prize back in 2010-11, won the league and reached the Champions League final that year. Same club, very different outcomes.
A 15-Year Gap Tells Its Own Story
From 2006 to 2011, Manchester United owned this award. Five consecutive winners all trained at Carrington. Then nothing for a decade and a half, while the club slid from genuine contenders to perennial top-four chasers. Fernandes ending that drought is a marker of personal progress, not institutional recovery.
The award itself has always had an eccentric streak — fan voting will do that. Juninho Paulista won it in 1996-97 while Middlesbrough were being relegated. Kevin Phillips took it in 1999-00 after scoring 30 league goals for a newly-promoted Sunderland side. Brilliant players, chaotic teams. The pattern is familiar.
More recently, this has been Liverpool and Manchester City territory. Every winner since N'Golo Kanté in 2016-17 has come from one of those two clubs — until now. That's worth tracking when next season's Player of the Season markets open up. The duopoly just had its streak broken, and Fernandes is still only 29.
The Full List of Premier League Player of the Season Winners
- 1992-93: Paul McGrath (Aston Villa)
- 1993-94: Eric Cantona (Manchester United)
- 1994-95: Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
- 1995-96: Les Ferdinand (Newcastle United)
- 1996-97: Juninho Paulista (Middlesbrough)
- 1997-98: Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
- 1998-99: David Ginola (Tottenham Hotspur)
- 1999-00: Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)
- 2000-01: Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United)
- 2001-02: Robert Pires (Arsenal)
- 2002-03: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
- 2003-04: Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
- 2004-05: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
- 2005-06: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
- 2006-07: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
- 2007-08: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
- 2008-09: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
- 2009-10: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
- 2010-11: Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United)
- 2011-12: Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)
- 2012-13: Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
- 2013-14: Luis Suárez (Liverpool)
- 2014-15: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
- 2015-16: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City)
- 2016-17: N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
- 2017-18: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- 2018-19: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
- 2019-20: Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
- 2020-21: Rúben Dias (Manchester City)
- 2021-22: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- 2022-23: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- 2023-24: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- 2024-25: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Only five players have won it more than once. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only one to win it in back-to-back seasons. Fernandes, with his record-equalling assists haul and likely PFA sweep still to come, has set the platform. Whether he can push United to the trophies that would make the individual honours feel secondary — that's the question that actually matters to him.
